The Collection of the Tragic End Tales:I:1
by Lady Mormazh
Summary: frodo was on his way home, but...you know something has to go badly wrong...


Frodo's Tragic End  
  
Up and up Frodo, Sam, and Sméagol went. Climbing mercilessly without stopping, so close to the heart of the mountain where the very fires of Mordor glow with delight in their own malice. "Come this way hobbitses." Sméagol says delighted, "Closer and closer we are yet." "But Sméagol, this doesn't make sense. You are leading us away from the mountain." Frodo said bewildered. "Yes, yes. But we shall go a more secret way." He put his finger to his lips and made a hissing sound. "Over hill, over dale, through brush, through brier. If we goes through the woods then we just might make it without getting tortured and slaughtered." He said flinching as he said this. "Mr. Frodo. Are you sure we should be following –pause- him? I mean to trust such a mercurial creature –pause- a bit dangerous, don't you think?" Sam whispered in Frodo's ear. "Oh come on Sam. Look at him. He's in dire need of something to live for. Maybe being our guide is making him feel proud of his knowledge of this dark land." He said unconvincingly. "Whatever you say Mr. Frodo." Sam said shrugging. Sméagol started to hum a tune. Then, all of the sudden Sméagol burst into song as he jumped into view. He spread his arms wide and finished on a bowed knee at the edge of a forest. "I welcome you –pause- to Mornie Forest. Deep and dark it is. Yes. Very much so it is." Looks darkly at the forest with eyes misted over, "Lovely in summertime though." He looks back at it thoughtfully. Sam gives Frodo a skeptical look of concern. As they walk into the forest it seems as if watches of their bower close in about them, darkening the chilly but sunny winter morning. On and on they trudge slowly going downhill, darkness blowing over them in a fierce wind. Night, or at least what they think is night, comes over them like a cover over a bed, the foursome start a campfire. The fire was blazing, cutting through the darkness as a scissors through paper. To catch a glimpse of what was around them in the first uproar of light, Sam and Frodo spun their heads around wildly. Watching them were hundreds of pairs of little eyes, disappearing in fear of the fire. Uneasily the four fell asleep under the deep curves of the trees, reaching around them like an old man bent over. The first light of day reached them much later than the rest of Middle Earth. As the pair of hobbits awoke they found that Sméagol was nowhere to be seen. The fire was still going, spreading a lantern like glow around the gray morning. Now that is was light they could see that all the trees were grey –pause- but there was something even more strange about them –pause- they had glittering silver leaves. The leaves overcast the whole tree except for the long trunks which varied in size. Slowly Frodo approached the outskirts of the small clearing that they were doomed to wait in until Sméagol came back –pause- if he ever did. The background was noiseless but for the wind until now. There was a loud screeching sound like the laugh of a hyena except with a hint of cruelty stirred into the mix. Galloping like a horse came Sméagol with two rabbits dangling out of his bony fingers. —Howling with joy –pause- that's it! That's what he was doing. I guess when you've been through that much –pause- that's the way you would sound.—Frodo thought with some sadness. "Master! Master! Look what I found! I found delicious," licks lips, "yummy breakfast for us, and you of course master." Breaks neck of one of the rabbits. Frodo cringed at the cracking of the bones. He looked wearily and with some pity at Sméagol. "Give me those!" Sam said snatching the rabbits, "You're going to make him sick! I have to fix them up into a stew." Sam said. Taking some lost pride in the thought of his cooking. After they ate breakfast with full tummies and cheerful faces -which happened to be the only ones staring out of that lonely place- they went on following Sméagol. Early afternoon their water supply was down to nothing but droplets. A little ways along an abandoned path with weeds and other plants infesting it Frodo ran across a stream. Sam ran across a sand pit, but Sméagol saw something a bit different from the both of them. The funny thing was that they were all eyeing the same thing or at least the same place.  
"Come on Sam. Feast your eyes on this beautiful stream. Looks nice and  
cold, doesn't it?" Frodo said longingly. "Mr. Frodo, I don't see any stream. I see a dark patch of woods up yonder. I don't think it wise to be going up there without there being any light." "Sam that's ridiculous. It's a stream." Out of the darkness came a whisper that rattled, "Wonderful stream, yes my dear hobbitses it is a stream, and as we have been here before we will tell you this. It is safe, go on now. Get a nice cool drink." Frodo and Sam's eyes were both deceived for this patch ahead was neither darkness nor a stream. Only Sméagol knew what lie ahead. "I'm not thirsty." said Sam stubbornly. Frodo could not resist the cool looking water and stepped into that patch. Sméagol squealed with delight as Frodo swam around in the pond. Then he burst into song. "The Magical Pond is the worst place to laund, especially what it does to you---- it chews you up and spits you out and turns your britches inside out." He sang as he bounced around the pond in pure glee. He repeated his song twice more then stopped and just simply watched the water. Sam was bewildered and wondering where Frodo had gone for he had disappeared under the surface of the water. About ten seconds later a wispy gray shadow rose out of the water looking more and more human as every moment passed. When he was set down on the ground, he was no more than a mere shadow of the Frodo he had been before. His eyes were a lucid blue color, unblinking at the sight of his two comrades. He was almost human looking except with a grey glow surrounding him. "What are you two chaps looking at?" he said grumpily. "Nothing master, nothing." Sméagol said happily. "By the way Sméagol, thank you for that direction to this water." He said gesturing at the water carelessly, "Now, onward." And with that he trudged off into the dark forest, a lantern in the gloom... 


End file.
